Hungary
The Hungarians have the power of Horsemanship. They replace the Bantu. Suggestions and spoilers *Strengths: Expansive cultural bonuses and enhanced offensive capabilities of cavalry and artillery *Weaknesses: Poor defensive capability of cavalry means lack of flexibility in Hungarian cavalry and a less resilient army. With multiple abilities and units that are fast on the march well into the Imperial Era, Hungary is an extremely powerful faction, compared to others. The Magyar war machine's ability to traverse great spaces shouldn't be underestimated, given its ability to found cities faster and its fast-moving infantry. Fast-moving villagers mean that you will get to expand as the crow flies - by the time your opponent is halfway setting up his second city, you may immediately be wondering what buildings to place in your newly founded 2nd and 3rd cities. Your initial Avars and Magyar lancers are more medium cavalry than heavy, given their lower HP penalty, but this belies the fact that they rival the Turks in damage potential, thus Hungarian heavy cavalry is best trained in large numbers and used for flanking attacks. Keep your cavalry in reserve until your opponent exposes his or her flank, and then move them in to exploit it. Fast-moving infantry is a bonus, as they can help cover your cavalry as equally as your cavalry can escort them without trouble, if the need should arise. In the Imperial Era, the Hungarian heavy cavalry line will be extinct, but they then gain access to two notable units: the Pavise Crossbowman, and Orban's bombard, named after the famous Hungarian engineer who took apart Constantinople's walls. Orban's bombard is a powerful cannon designed for taking apart siege weapons and fortifications, and is substantially more mobile, making for fast and relatively more mobile armies that can outrun other factions, especially those of Poland, the Papal States and Russia (with slower training times and convoluted resource issues). Another unit to note is the Pavise Crossbowman. Although he looks like more fancily kitted-out version of a crossbowman, this fine fellow can entrench anywhere, giving him time to do so. All of these military and cultural bonuses come together to form a faction that is strong, and highly balanced. The only danger perhaps would be France, with its unique cavalry lines; or Spain's toughened infantry and almogavers; or any faction with heavy-hitting units in the Castle Age that can brush aside Hungary's weaker heavy cavalry. CtW guide Hungary is one of the easier CtW campaign paths. It starts off in the middle of the map, and is close by to at least two powers: the Byzantines and the Venetians, who rule the east Mediterranean. Furthermore, Hungary is bordered on the south by many lucrative regions: the Central Plains for fine wines, which help with research; the Carpathian mountains for gems, which improve your borders; and Wallachia for beaver pelts which make for free merchants and tradesmen and access to the Black Sea and Central Asia. Istria is rich in wealth, but could potentially be a bone of contention between you and the Italians. The biggest problems that you would face would be the Germans and their neighbours — Poland, Germany and Bohemia all potentially covet your holdings. Venice and Byzantium are potentially friendly towards you. It might be possible to ally with either one from the start to allow for quick overruns of Eastern Europe. To prevent the breakout of Crusades and the potential of interdict, an alliance with Venice against the Papal States should be considered, although it is to be noted that with sufficient resources, the Papal States are not to be tangled with: already, central Italy is already under the sway of the Papal States, and the Sicilians may have expanded already into whatever is left. You will be hard-pressed to break through them to capture Latium. These powers aside, there are 3 other factions which may pose problems to your plans: Varangian Novgorod to the north, and Mongolia and Turkey. It will take some time indeed for the latter two to make their presence felt, but once they do so expect a tough fight, so what you can do might be to expand into Russia and around the Black Sea with Byzantium's help. There is plentiful room to explore eastwards. Franconia might be a waste of time, given the five or so powers that bar the way. If these several powers can create a pan-European alliance, you will be hard pressed to defend your borders against attack. Faction summary *We Build This City — As a highly expansive civ with the ability to increase its borders, taxation research should be emphasised — tax generates wealth from activity and border size, so the larger your realm and the more caravans and peasants you have working, the more tax you generate. *Blitzkrieg — Hungary has the speediest army on the march. In the Imperial Era, equip your infantry and cavalry armies with Orban's bombard, which can make short work of other players' castles and artillery. *Avar Blast — Although Hungary's Magyar cavalry are weaker than other players' knights, they can be very devastating when used in quantity and properly: use them to run your opponents' army through, and flank heavy infantry. This technique works well aginst lighter opponents but less so against factions like Bohemia or Japan with their powerful unique heavy infantry and other units, but works exceptionally well against factions which rely on light troops such as China and Mongolia. In the case of the latter, kill off their conscripts with your Magyars and use your Armenians to counter the Altan Ordu. *Legging It — In battles consisting of open areas, Hungary is king. You will need to micro-manage your troops, particularly your knights, heavy infantry, archers and gunners, in order to bring out their best to crush the enemy in the field. Settlements: Pest; Privigye; Miskolc; Pécs; Gyor; Sopron; Eger; Nagykanizsa; Nyíregyháza; Zsolna; Eperjes; Szombathely; Tatabánya; Kaposvár; Békéscsaba; Érd; Kassa; Pozsony; Buda; Debrecen; Poprád; Trencsén; Turócszentmárton; Nagyszombat; Besztercebánya; Szolnok; Nyitra; Szeged; Kecskemét; Székesfehérvár; Veszprém; Zalaegerszeg 'Leaders: '''Emerico, Ugo, Arpad, Istvan, Ladislao, Bela, Matteas Corvinus, Karol of Anjou, Louis the Great, Sigismond '''Leaders: '''Dark and Imperial History Central Asia had long been the home of various nomadic tribes based on the practice of animal herding and horses. Humans had inhabited the region ever since the prehistoric period. The centuries before the Genghis Khan's conquests, various Turkic and Mongol-Tungusic tribes inhabited the steppes of Mongolia. These various ethnic groups alternatively ruled each other during this time, one group would gain power and subdue the others until another group formed to topple the previously superior power. The land lends itself to breed a people who were used to harsh living conditions, mobility and war — elements that make for an ideal military force, so it is no coincidence that some of the most successful conquerors and invaders came from this region of the world. Coming of the Huns One of the first politically organized groups were the Hsiung-nu (the Chinese name for a tribe called the Hunnu) had for a time been dominant in the region. They throughout this time, posed a constant threat to ancient China, and were the cause for China to build the Great Wall. The result however was that due to Chinese activity in the northwestern wastes, a westward migration of nomadic horse-riding tribes would course its way toward Europe. One of these groups would eventually arrive at the gates of Roman Empire in the 4th century, to be known to the western world as the Huns. The arrival of the Huns would be a disaster for the Western world, as they weakened further what hold the Romans had on eastern Europe and even arrived at the gates of Rome by 452. Ammianus Marcellinus, who had the ill luck to fight them noted: ::''They have a sort of shapeless lump, if I may say so, not a face, and pinholes rather than eyes. Although the Huns under Atilla did create an empire that reached from Germany all the way to the Ukraine, centred around the former Roman province of Pannoia, it was not the Huns who laid the foundations for the modern Hungarian state, but the Magyars. Originally a confederation of nomadic tribes living between the Carpathians and the Urals of possible Turkish descent, the Magyar were driven out by the activities of the Pechenegs, another group of nomads, and so crossed into the Danube river basin and assimilated the Avars, whose own empire was crumbling into ruin. Modern Hungary was said to have been born in the midst of the Byzantine-Bulgar wars of the 9th century. The Hungarian leader, Árpád, allied his tribe with the Byzantines and smashed the Bulgars, but were in turn driven out by a Bulgar-Pecheneg alliance, eventually settling in the Carpathian basin and proceeding to raid territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire alike, until military defeats in 955 and 970 decimated their armies. By 1000, the Magyar kingdom was well on the way to becoming a unitary Christian state, centred around Esztergom (near present-day Budapest). The Golden Age of Hungary Vajk, Grand Prince of the Magyars, was crowned king ni 1000 by Pope Sylvester on Christmas Day, with the consent of the Holy Roman emperor, Otto II. His reign would see the creation of modern Hungary as he strengthened Christianity throughout his realm as the official religion, and his successors would continue building up Hungary into a powerful nation which even exceeded the power of the French by the 12th century. Unlike other nations in Europe, which often experienced instability due to the feudal system, Hungary remained a rather stable kingdom. It opened relations with the Germans and the Poles, annexed Croatia into its sphere of power and even expelled the Byzantines from the Balkans. It was this same Hungary too that withstood the Mongols on their expedition into Europe in the 13th century. Yet feudalism crept in. Originally, Hungarian kings were the largest land owners, but as time passed by and the complexity of the Hungarian state meant that trade and industry reduced the importance of agriculture and other primary economic activities, the kings of Hungary were forced to cede lands to nobles in order to maintain their allegiance to Esztergom. In 1222, frustrated with taxes to pay for wars with the Teutonic order (then active in the Carpathians), Magyar nobles confronted their king Andrew II and forced him to sign the Golden Bull (the word "Bull" being a from the Latin word for "seal"), a series of laws limiting the king and compelling his successors to pledge to uphold the Bull's statutes before he or she could assume the crown. The power of the king eventually waned in 1301 when king Andrew III died, leaving no suitable heir to the House of Árpád and a kingdom on the verge of civil war. A new series of kings was appointed from the House of Anjou, however; this guaranteed victory against the Turks; stability and prosperity in equal measures; and more heroic days for Central Europe, and the emergence of great figures such as Matthew Korvín (also known as Matthias Corvinus) and Hunyadi Janós. Matthew Korvín was an archetypical Renaissance man: he was equally adept in the martial science as equally as he was well-versed with the arts and culture: Magyarophiles attest that Hungary experienced the Renaissance first before the Italians did. It was said that the great king Matthew was planning to become the next Holy Roman Emperor, when he died suddenly in 1490, supposedly by poisoning. Decline of the Kingdom This age of renewed growth and prestige however was not to last, as Hungary continued to suffer from the same problems brought on by feudalism : disunity and weak kings. After Matthew Korvín's death, the local magnates and barons decided to elect a Polish prince, Vladislaus II of Bohemia, to rule as their king. Vladislaus and his heirs would prove to be the downfall of Hungary: as their acquiescence to the nobles weakened the power of Hungary's centralised authority. Over time, Hungary was partitioned by the Turks and eventually annexed to the Ottoman and Habsburg empires, unable to emerge as a sovereign state again until the end of the First World War. References *Wallace R, & Krieger L (ed); Rise of Russia; (1967) Time and Life Books, New York *Keen M; The Pelican History of Mediaeval Europe (1969 new ed); Pelican Books Category:Factions Category:Spoiler Category:Catholics